Mysteria
by MissAliceinWonderland92
Summary: Oliver and Eugene Davis are 15 yr. old twins living in England. They take on a case for a nearby theme park around the same time as Taniyama Mai, a foreign exchange student, takes up in their home. NaruxMai and GenexMai pairings little fluff rated T
1. Chapter 1

Yeah, I know, _Mysteria_ is a strange title, but I didn't have the patience to think of anything else. I was just ready to post this. This is my first fanfic, so please be gentle on it.

**Disclaimer: I only wish I owned Ghost Hunt, but sadly, I don't. T_T**

* * *

**Saturday, July 29**

"Noll!! Gene!! You have a client at the door! Go ANSWER IT, please!" Martin Davis's voice rang up the stairs to his sons.

Hearing that, Gene grinned at Noll, punched him on the arm and raced downstairs to answer the door, closely followed by his twin brother. The two took a second to mask their faces and straighten their clothes before Noll opened the door. "Good evening, Mr. Parker. Please come in and follow us to the Study so we may discuss your case."

Gene stifled a snigger as they both stepped away from the door and led their client to a room down the first hall of their house. _Way to sound professional, Noll._

_Shut up. _

Gene stole a glance at his brother to find him sending the end of the hall a glare obviously meant for him. Inside the room, Noll and Gene sat down in the two chairs in front of the couch where Mr. Parker was sitting.

Mr. Parker was watching the two skeptically. "I'm a little confused. I'm sure neither of you is the CEO of SPR, Dr. Martin Davis, correct?"

"That is correct. We are Dr. Davis's sons. I am Eugene Davis, and my brother is Oliver Davis. Despite our ages, our father has dubbed us worthy to take on most cases in his stead since he is very busy lately."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense. How old did you say you were again?"

"We didn't say, Mr. Parker. Now, if you would please begin to explain the details of your case?" Noll cut in seeing as how the conversation would never get anywhere if he allowed his brother and the client to continue their pointless conversation.

Ignoring the sharpness of the other twin's tone, Mr. Parker replied, "Right, right, of course. Well, you see, I am the founder of the Queensland theme park just outside of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

"Ever since we opened the park two months ago, truly awful things have been happening around the park. We've had reports of people disappearing while inside the park and of people leaving with unexplained injuries. There have also been rumors of people following bodiless voices out of the park only to be found later wandering around in the woods in a state of extreme disorientation, or, in worst case scenarios, dead.

"Other than the strange things that have happened to our guests, we've left in the evening with everything cleaned and tidied up for the day only to come back the next day and find it vandalized and messed up as if we hadn't bothered cleaning it in the first place. We also have list of select list of rides that are always in need of repair.

"To sum it all up, Mr. Davis, we are in serious need your help. Even though I am not thoroughly convinced that this is paranormal, various employees have suggested that I hire you to investigate since the police can't find anything that could cause all this."

_Damn, that's a _lot_ of paranormal activity in one area-if all of it is paranormal activity. So what do you think, Noll? This could be a terribly difficult case, but it sounds too intriguing to pass up if you ask me. Could be exciting._

_It certainly fits the description of paranormal in more than one of those cases. I guess we'll take the case. We're going to need a full team though._

"Alright, Mr. Parker. We'll take your case. It sounds as though it fits the proper criteria for our area of expertise. We will gather a team and gather at the park by the end of the week at the latest. We will need a place-preferably some sort of room if you have one in your park-to put our equipment."

"I assure you, Mr. Davis, that won't be a problem at all. We have several gift shops with backrooms where you will be able to set up your stuff. Also, if it is needed, I can also give your team rooms at the Queensland Hotel and Suites.

Meanwhile:

Taniyama Mai stepped out of the terminal into the English airport. She glanced around and groaned. _Oh god, how on earth will I be able to find my way around this place? I don't even know where I go to get my bags. T__T'' _

After searching nearly the entire airport, Mai finally found another Customer Service woman who knew Japanese and directed her to the Baggage Claim and helped her arrange for a taxi to take her to her destination, the home of Martin and Luella Davis, the family she would be staying with while she studied in Europe. Sitting in the taxi, Mai prayed fervently that somebody in the Martin household would help her improve her English before school started.

* * *

Wow, it looks so much shorter on here than it does on my word document. That almost makes me sad, but not quite.

Ok, so that's the first chapter. I know it's pretty boring so far, but trust me, these details will be nice to know later on. Reviews are pretty great, but not necessary unless you would like me to revise. I'm always up for some constructive criticism. I would rather people just read it. Mind you, it's 3:19 in the morning and I wrote this in probably 30 min.

Just wait until you see what I have planned later on. *malevolent grin*


	2. Chapter 2

Ok , so I'm pretty surprised at the number of hits I've gotten in the past 9 hours since I posted this? Now that is weird, my cell phone that I was looking for all night just popped up beside me on the bed. To clear up some confusion on the location: this is completely set in England and will probably remain that way throughout the rest of the story. Mai was in an English airport.

* * *

_Alright, well now that this is settled, let's get rid of this guy before our guest gets here. _Putting on a polite smile, Gene popped out of his chair.

"Thank you so much for accepting my case. Would you prefer me to keep the park open or to close it while you are working?"

"Whether or not you close the park until we solve this case is up to you. It won't affect us either way. Well, what do you think Noll?"

"Keep it open."

Mr. Parker nodded as he stood up and Gene said, "Well, we will see you later on this week. I hope you have a safe trip home."

Just as he led the client out of the room, he heard the doorbell ring. _Ah, perfect timing._

Mai only had to wait a few seconds after ringing the doorbell for the door to open. Standing on the other side of the door was an old man in a business and a _very _handsome boy who looked to be about the same age as her.

_Aw, Noll, you should come take a look at our kawaii guest. Perhaps you'll take a liking to this one._

Hearing Gene's thoughts, Noll sighed and stood up. _Gene, you very well know that I am too busy to 'take a liking' to any type of girl. Now, how about you let her in at least?_

_Eh, right…she looks a bit afraid of me. Or maybe she's awed by my good looks._ Gene laughed inwardly at that idea.

Mai realized that the old man was looking to get out of the house and stepped to the side to let him through.

After Mr. Parker left, Gene smiled warmly at the girl on his front porch. She smiled back and said in fractured English, "Err…hello, I am..Mai Taniyama." To her surprise, the boy standing there chuckled and replied in perfect Japanese.

"I'm Eugene; but really Taniyama-san, please don't worry about trying to speak English. Everybody in this family except my father knows how to speak Japanese. Here, let me take your bags and see if I can't get the rest of my overly reclusive family in here." Switching over to English he yelled down the hall, "Oi, Noll! Get your butt in here!" and up the stairs, "MOM! DAD! MAI'S HERE~~!!"

He closed the door and showed Mai to the downstairs living room. "I'll be right back. Everybody else should be in here shortly." He grabbed her luggage and carried it out of the room and up to her bedroom.

As soon as Gene left out of one doorway, Noll appeared in the opposite doorway. Leaning on the doorframe he said quietly, "Good evening, Taniyama-san." Mai spun around to see the other speaker only to find the same person that had just left but in different clothes.

"Wah, how did you _do_ that?"

"Do what?" He smirked slightly.

"Eh, uh….never mind." She heard heavy footsteps of somebody running downstairs and turned back around to find…the same person again. "Oh, boy." _Yikes. Twins I take it._

"Ah, Taniyama-san, I see you've met my brother. Noll, introduce yourself already."

After straightening up, Noll walked into the room to the girl and in the same quiet voice said to her as his parents walked in, "Hello Taniyama-san, I am Oliver Davis. These are our parents, Luella and Martin Davis. I hope the trip over was well?" Mai nodded.

His mother walked over to Mai, practically pushing him out of the way, and enveloped the girl in a giant hug. "Hello dear. I'm Luella Davis, but you can just call me Luella. My sons can be rude sometimes. They're so absentminded." Gesturing at her husband she added, "That's my husband. You can just call him Martin. I'm sure he doesn't mind, right? As for those two you can call them either Noll or Gene. Doesn't matter if you get them mixed up, Gene will answer to just about anything. Noll, however, rarely even talks."

"Mum, you talk too much. Is dinner ready yet? I'm sure she's tired and hungry after that plane ride."

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry dear. I do tend to rant. Follow me to the dining room." Finding it unnecessary to reply, Mai simply followed the rest of the family to their dining room where they had dinner.

* * *

Ok, enough of that. I'm bored just thinking about this thankfully short chapter. I'm glad it's over as well. It's definitely a filler page . I hate those, but I had to get this all out of the way before I could go any further. I'm trying to write straight through a writer's block. It worked well late last night, but it's a little harder when I'm thinking straight. I'm definitely going to put up another chapter tonight and I promise it will get more interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

I hope it wasn't too bad to put up with that last chapter. Boring and long introductions are OVER. I plan to bring in some more familiar characters in the next couple chapters. Also, I may bring in some _less_ familiar characters as well.

* * *

Over the next few days, Mai set about getting her new room situated and learning more about her home-stay family. More than anything, she wanted to find out more about the twins, but they were almost always somewhere else or too busy with their 'work', whatever that may be. Since Mr. Davis didn't speak much Japanese and she barely understood English, that left Luella the only person she could really talk to.

Through Luella, Mai learned more about the twins' pasts. How they'd been born in the USA and orphaned at a young age, how the Davis's had adopted them and brought them back to England, and how each of them behaved.

"Even if we're only their adopted parents, they each seem to take after one of us. Gene, who takes mostly after me, is much more outgoing and fun-loving than Noll. Noll is all about his studies and work. He prefers not to socialize much with anybody except Gene, so he takes very much after my husband," Luella concluded.

Once, when Gene was taking a break from his work, Mai asked him what it was that he and Noll were always doing. She had difficulty saying Noll's name because of her accent and- much to Gene's amusement kept calling him Naru instead. He explained what his parents' business, the SPR, was.

Then he told her, "Noll and I are working on a paranormal case involving a nearby amusement park. Right now all we're trying to do is contact a couple people so they can come down later and help us out a bit."

"You know, it might actually be kind of fun to go out to an amusement park together: me, you, and Noll. We haven't really gotten the chance to hang out since you got here. What do you think? You could just come with us when we move down there."

"Ehh, really? That would be awesome! I've never actually been to an amusement park before; let alone one in England. Are you sure I can go though? What about your parents?"

"Don't worry about them, they definitely won't mind. Well, it's settled, we'll definitely take you with us whenever it is we go."

"Tomorrow," Noll interrupted as he walked into the room. "We're leaving tomorrow."

_Gene, are you sure it's alright for her to go? It could get dangerous with all that's going on there._

_She'll be fine. She has us and Lin to protect her if anything weird happens._

Noll sighed at his brother's reply and said aloud, "Gene, make sure Lin doesn't mind this. If you need anybody's permission, it's his."

Gene thought about confronting Lin and groaned slightly, but later on that night he did ask and after much convincing, received Lin's grudging approval.

The next day, they all loaded their stuff in the company van and headed down to Queensland Hotel.

In a different area of England, two other people packed their bags as well and started a slightly longer journey to Queensland to join the SPR group.

Mai set her bags down on her bed in the large suite in the Queensland Hotel. _Wow, I bet if this were a normal situation, this room would cost a fortune; or belong to some couple on their honeymoon._ "I wonder how long we're going to stay."

Naru-she'd given up on trying to say Noll-and Gene were in the suite down the hall from her room.

The trip from the Davis mansion to the hotel had been about two and a half hours. In that time, Mai had tried to strike up some sort of conversation with Naru. After about ten minutes of basically talking to herself, she gave up and talked to Gene instead.

She found Lin-san much too intimidating to even try to talk to.

After about an hour, it was apparent that it would be best to just let the conversation go and stare out the window or something of that sort. Naru was reviewing the case, Lin was driving, and Gene was talking on the phone with another member of the team.

Mai left her room and sat outside the door, waiting for either Naru or Gene to leave their room. A few minutes later, one of them did come out. Judging by the lack of emotion on his face, Mai guessed it was probably Naru. She stood up and walked over to him. "Ano, Naru-san, how long will it be before we head to the park?"

He sighed and stared down at her for a few seconds before replying.

"I'd say about another hour. We've decided to wait for the other two to arrive so we could all go together." _I swear, if she keeps calling me Naru, it's going to stick. Even people that _can_ say Noll are going to call me Naru. Gene's already started. _

_Hey, Naru, what are you doing out there?_ Noll cringed inwardly.

_Mai had a question. How about you come out here and entertain her or something? She looks like she's going to get bored very quickly with just waiting in her room._

_Hmmm….ok. I'll _entertain_ her if you would like._

_G-Gene, honestly, at least try to be sensible._ He blocked off the images his brother was sending him.

_Yes, Oh Sensible One; as you wish. _

Naru turned away from Mai and went back in his room letting the red tint cover his face due to the mental pictures his brother had drawn. As Gene passed him to go out of the room he asked him, "How did you become so perverse?"

Gene chuckled and shrugged before leaving the room. "Mai-chan, are you hungry?"

"Just a little bit."

"Good enough for me. Let's go check out the menu in this place!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the elevator. Mai blushed when the stepped onto the elevator and he didn't let go of her hand.

It took them about an hour to choose the restaurant and eat. It took just as long for the other two to arrive.

They asked for the room number of Eugene and Oliver Davis after they had gotten their room key.

Noll heard somebody knocking on his door. Thinking Gene had left his room key, he took his time going to open it. When he finally opened it, he was surprised that instead of Gene, it was the 'help' they had all been waiting for. He gave them a small smile that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Hello Rachel, Alice. We were wondering if you two were ever going to show up."

* * *

Yes, I'm going to bring in the new characters before I bring in the old characters. I just had to. It seemed more fitting. In any case, it would be different from if they all actually knew each other like in the anime//manga. I really don't have much to say right now. Time to start the next chapter though. I'm very bad about keeping my chapters short. Oh well.

I had to fix a few things


	4. Chapter 4

_Last time: Noll heard somebody knocking on his door. Thinking Gene had left his room key, he took his time going to open it. When he finally opened it, he was surprised that instead of Gene, it was the 'help' they had all been waiting for. He gave them a small smile that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "Hello Rachel, Alice. We were wondering if you two were ever going to show up."_

Sorry it took so long.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

**Mai's POV**

Gene and I sat in very back of the SPR van. In the middle row was Naru, surrounded on both sides by the strange girls who had appeared earlier. Both were definitely Japanese, but they spoke and acted English. Lin, of course, was driving.

While we waited to arrive at the amusement park, Gene explained the case in general to me. Naru was left to fill Rachel and Alice in.

"It would be a good idea for you to stay close to Noll, Lin, or me. It would be bad if you disappeared and your parents started a legal case against us."

I laughed and shook my head. "As if that's possible," I grew more somber but not morose and added, "my parents have been dead for almost five years."

**Gene's POV**

"Aw, Mai, I'm sorry. Why didn't you say something about this earlier?" _Well I feel like an insensitive jerk._

"It's not that big of a deal anymore. I'm perfectly fine with it now. Teachers from my school took care of me until I was able to get a job and take care of myself….Impressive isn't it?" I contemplated this new discovery for most of the trip, wondering how a girl like herself had managed real life the way she did.

**Mai's POV**

I stood in front of the entrance of the park and gazed at the tall roller coasters behind the walls in amazement. "Uwaaaah, sugoi~!" Gene and Naru led the way inside and I followed directly behind them. Catching up to Gene, I whispered to him, "Neh, can we ride the coasters and have fun while we're on the job?" He scrutinized my pleading face carefully then smiled playfully and nodded in his unusually discreet manner. I grinned.

**General POV**

Mai skipped ahead of Naru and followed Mr. Parker to the small building he had set up for the base. It was a comfortable room with a fireplace and several couches and chairs to lounge in around it. Behind it, there was the work area. There were shelves and desks to set up just about anything. Mai wondered exactly what type of equipment Naru, Lin, and Gene had brought with them. "This place is so insanely awesome," she murmured to herself and she blocked the doorway.

Lin, who was behind her with a large box that looked like it had a large computer monitor inside, cleared his throat suggestively causing Mai to jump. She recoiled away from the door and Lin's strangely menacing form.

**Gene's POV**

I watched Mai bound into the amusement park and thought to myself and whoever happened to be listening in, _Her reaction to being here is more amusing than the actual prospect of all the stuff that we could do here._

**General POV**

Beside him, Naru smirked slightly and nodded discreetly; they both followed the others into the base room.

Mr. Parker eyed Gene nervously before speaking to him, "Sir, not much usually happens during the daytime activities of the park. You may not find much until evening or after hours."

Naru finished his thoughts, "In other words, Gene and Mai, you should probably get the excitement out of your systems now rather than attempt to later." Gene knew that this was his way of being kind to Mai.

"Aren't you going to join us Naru?" Mai's disappointment was evident on her face as she thought of Naru not hanging out with her and Gene for once.

Noll cringed inwardly at her pronunciation of his name but only shook his head without thinking about it. Then he actually did think about it. _Maybe I should try to act like somebody enjoying the park. Most of the stuff seems to happen to visitors who get some entertainment out of the park._

Gene looked at him out of the corner of his eye. _Yeah right, Noll. You want to have fun with us and just won't admit it. _Aloud, though, he concluded, "That means that we probably should start having fun now before it gets too late, right Mai-chan?"

The girl nodded fervently and ran for the door, pulling Naru and Gene with her. "Let's go, then, let's go!"

Rider after ride, the girl, oblivious to the jealous stares of the other park guests, dragged Naru and Gene over most of the park. Tiring though it was, neither of them could really say that they hadn't enjoyed spending the afternoon with her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Hours Later XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The three teens got off another of the larger coasters just as the sun began to sink beneath trees. Naru looked at Gene and they surreptitiously nodded at the same thought. _This is when things begin._ Mai, oblivious to the two ran up to a large green hedge maze. "Gene, Naru, let's go through the maze!"

"Mai, it's time to head back to the base. The sun's gone down so things are about to get much more dangerous."

She stared at Naru in disbelief. "Oh, come on~ please??? Please, please, please?? Just this last maze and we can go in. Gene?"

Gene looked to his brother for help in dissuading her, but Noll merely shrugged. Mai watched them, but quickly grew tired of their boring antics. She made a split-second decision and made her way into the maze. Naru and Gene didn't notice until they finished their mental conversation a few minutes later.

By then, it was too late to catch up with Mai in time.

**Mai's POV**

I stood still and tried to catch my bearings and my breath. The maze definitely was bigger than it had looked from the outside. Looking from where I had just come from, I listened for Naru or Gene's voices. They would undoubtedly have followed me in. "And helped me get out if I'd waited for them." Remorsefully and somewhat nervously, I added, "I wonder if this wasn't such a good idea." _How long until I get out of this place. It's getting darker by the second too. _Suddenly a picture forms in my head. It is the image of a man standing behind me at eye level with cruel glittering eyes staring straight into my own eyes.

**General POV**

Naru and Gene run throughout the maze looking for Mai. When they reach the end and don't find her waiting for them, they split up and begin searching the routes they didn't take before. They both notice that there are places that are blocked off that weren't the first time they went through the maze. It was for sure that Mai was stuck in one of these passages. From a short distance, they twins hear her calling for them and follow the sound of her voice until they meet up and find her sitting a few feet away from them. Mai huddles in front of another dead end, shaking, almost sobbing with fear. "Mai…!" Gene begins to walk forward, but stops suddenly as he and Naru both sense a strong malicious presence beside her. "Mai crawl over here, dear. You need to come over here now. It's time to go back to the base."

As she tries to stand up, a pair of arms wraps around her and pulls her back until she's against the hedge. At the same time, she fades into a strange, impenetrable darkness. Gene runs forward but only meets the hedge. Mai had disappeared, but her presence was still there somewhere. Naru stared blankly at the space where the girl had stood only seconds before. "Mai…" _Now What? _

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Back at the Base XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

Lin had just finished setting up everything they would need in the base. "Rachel and Alice, would you two mind helping me set up the cameras around the park? Mr. Parker gave me a list of places in particular that customers commented about or were found at after their disappearances. Also, see if you can find Gene, Noll, and Taniyama-san."

The two girls noted a strange underlying emotion in Lin's voice but didn't ask. It was obvious that he was a bit worried about his young charges. They were supposed to have been back almost an hour ago when the sun set in the park, but they had yet to reappear.

_Perhaps it's time to bring in a few more specialists, _Lin thought as he dialed a number on his phone. _Hopefully they chose a hotel close by this time.

* * *

_

I'd say it's about time I finally updated this...


	5. Chapter 5

Yeah...it's been an incredibly long time since I last updated this at all...Sorry. A lot of stuff's been going on lately

But in any case, the wait is over: here's your next chapter

Disclaimer: well....if i owned Ghost Hunt, let's just say i'd have made them real people by now just so i could join them

**M..ai's POV**

Slowly, I opened my eyes, hoping to God that I had not actually just passed straight through a semi-solid hedge like it was water. Instead, I saw a great deal of impenetrable darkness. Well, almost impenetrable. I noticed that where my body touched the—_floor?_—a faint light shone underneath it. Everything else, though, had disappeared and left me in a dark abyss.

I stood up and tried walking around to see if I could find anything that even slightly resembled the amusement park that had simply vanished, but I seemed to travel nowhere at all. Muttering, I asked myself, "What is this, some sort of dream?"

**Naru's POV**

I had volunteered to stay and mark the spot from which Mai had disappeared as Gene found his way to the other side of that hedge. Slowly pacing back and forth between the hedges, I contemplated various possible ways of communicating with the girl, but as I went through and tested each one fruitlessly, I lost patience and decided to contact Gene.

_Gene, go back to the base and get Lin and the others down here. _

_Yes, Master _was Gene's sarcastic reply. Noll realized that Mai's disappearance had affected Gene more than necessary—much more than it had affected himself at least. Wearily, I kneeled down in front of the dead end and just stared at it for a moment, analyzing it for any _imperfections_. Mai's vanishing act could possibly have been exactly that—an act put on by somebody else within the park.

**General POV**

Lin looked up as Gene stormed in the room muttering angry obscenities—something to do with a maze—to himself. First, Lin noticed that neither Naru nor Mai had followed him in, and second, he noticed the dark look on Gene's face as he headed towards him.

Alice and Rachel watched as an obviously distressed Gene overtook Lin, conversing quietly to him, and shepherded him out of the room. The two girls decided to follow them blindly even though they obviously hadn't been invited to join. Maybe they could help… But really they just wanted to know if something had happened to Noll *cough cough*. Anything happening to either of the twins would be a tragedy in either girls' minds.

The small group followed Gene through the hedge maze straight to where Noll was still kneeling and inspecting a dead end. Lin interrupted the long silence. "So this is where Taniyama-san vanished?"

"Yes. But I've been wondering if she vanished due to something paranormal or something a bit more…staged."

Gene looked at Naru curiously. "Staged? You think a human pulled her through the hedge…or through some sort of hole or trapdoor? What about the strange lighting. It's possible to make a place brighter without making yourself obvious, but how would a person make this one spot pitch black without revealing his 'stage'?"

At this, Naru simply shrugged. Sticking up for his idea—mostly to gain a favor for at least one of the twins—Alice agreed with Noll wholeheartedly, "It's definitely always possible for a very skilled illusionist to create the darkness you mentioned. Maybe it was an effect of a source above you that you just didn't notice…"

"I don't think that's likely, sis. Some sort of spirit must be at work here. Considering all the different types of haunting, wouldn't it be more likely that this is the work of a spirit as well?"

"Be quiet, Rachel! What do you know about haunting anyways?? You're just a researcher. You have no idea what a spirit's presence feels like!"

"As a researcher and a skeptic, any of these so-called 'hauntings' could be caused by a human. Don't be such a know-it-all you idiot medium" _if you can even be called that_, Rachel wanted to add at the end but didn't because it would only serve to make her look bad in front of everybody.

Before Alice could retort back, Lin glared at the pair of them with an obvious 'SHUT UP!' look on his face. Gene and Naru hadn't even been paying any attention to either of them anyways.

**Mai's POV**

Whether my eyes had adjusted to the strange darkness or I had created some sort of dream just by thinking about it, I could see particular things going on around me. First thing I had noticed were several glowing orbs of light floating lightly all around me, swaying with an invisible breeze. Next, my dream world revealed the outline of the hedge maze that had apparently swallowed me whole.

If the dream world was showing me what was really happening in that maze, then some time must have passed because Naru and Gene were no longer alone. Lin-san, Rachel-san, and Alice-san had joined them as well. They were discussing something that I could neither hear nor see since I was standing far above them for some odd reason. _I wonder if maybe I could _float_ down to the ground…or what at least appears to be ground. _

As she thought the question to herself, her dream-self seemed to float closer to the ground, almost as if her willing it to happen had made it happen. As I touched down on the ground, I noticed that Naru seemed a little strained—probably due to the fact that he'd watched her vanish into a dark oblivion—but Gene looked particularly frightful. Worry and fury etched his face into a mask beyond recognition. The twin's obvious contrast in personality showed through in their opposing expressions.

Even so, I knew that both were worried about me. My disappearance was obviously what the group was discussing. I'd hardly noticed the other three people that were trying to fit between the hedges of the narrow maze.

Lin-san's expressionless face showed no apparent disquiet due to the situation. The two girls, Alice and Rachel, didn't even seem to care. They were locked in a silent glaring contest. I wished that they hadn't shown up. They didn't seem to have much more purpose in being there than to obtain Naru and Gene's attention.

They probably didn't care about the case except to prove themselves worthy of one of the twins.

In any case, I had no idea how to get out of my dream state and return to the real world, so I decided that as long as I was there, I would try to figure out where my body was and what exactly was going on.

The longer I walked around the maze, the more obvious it became that I wouldn't find any trace of myself there; therefore, I decided that leaving the maze was the best course of action.

I concentrated on rising off the ground just enough to see over the top of the hedges. As soon I had cleared the maze, I let myself float back down to the ground and walked around the entire park searching for clues.

I wished a great deal that I had help from somebody, anybody, in searching the park for my body and the culprit who was hiding it.

After a while, as I headed back to the maze, I realized that the entire group except one person had dissipated. Sitting on the ground leaned up against the hedge, either Naru or Gene—it was hard to tell which—appeared to be asleep.

Close to the sleeping twin, a strange ripple in my dream world appeared, revealing another twin standing very close to me and actually in the same dream existence.

He stood there for a few long seconds just staring at me before any recognition lit his face up. He took a few long strides, closing the small distance between us and enveloped me in a smothering hug. "Gene!" I managed to only mutter into his jacket just before he pulled back. "How did you manage to find this place?? I thought only I could be in my own dreams."

"Mai, this is definitely a normal dream. The question isn't how I found this place; it's how _you_ found it. Right now, we're in a dimension called the spiritual plane. It's difficult to explain why this place even exists."

**Gene's POV**

"In any case, do you have any idea where your body is in the real world?"

Mai shook her head slowly. "I was hoping that since I couldn't find it here—considering I have no idea how this place works—somebody in the real world would find it." I sighed lightly.

"It would be a lot easier for you to just wake up and try to figure out where you are…maybe even find a way out or who's behind this unless it's something paranormal after all." At that, Mai looked at me curiously.

"You don't think it's really a spirit?" As he shrugged, she continued, "I didn't particularly think that whatever staged my disappearance was paranormal. Other things here may be, but _that_ wasn't."

Contemplating this, I turned my attention back to the maze where Naru was suddenly standing over me saying something I couldn't hear. Even so, I had the feeling he was trying to wake me up. Turning back to Mai I asked her, "Can you wake up and figure out where you are?"

"I don't know…I don't even know how to wake up."

"I can probably help you with that, but once I do, you have to do whatever you can to figure out any way to return safely to us. I'll help you wake up, but the rest is pretty much up to you. Even if you can't do anything, we'll find you. That, I promise."

Mai nodded solemnly, obviously not wanting to be separated from her only line of communication so soon.

Even realizing this—I was just as reluctant to leave—I concentrated on pushing Mai's psyche out of the spiritual plane—a place he knew only existed for a person with some sort of spiritual abilities.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: nope, I still don't own Ghost Hunt T.T

**Mai**

I awakened once again into pitch darkness but a different type of darkness; it had mass and…discomfort. It was impossible to move in the cramped space I'd awakened in, and moving wasn't exactly the best idea anyways. I was lying inside what appeared to be a wooden box, a chest of sorts. I pushed on the top of the chest, hoping to get out, but to no avail. "Well it was worth a try," I remarked quietly to myself. I drew my fist back and knocked on the wood three times and listened for movement. The response made me jump as somebody knocked back once, twice as hard, by the side of my head. Once I'd regained my composure, I called out to the person. "Hey! Who's out there?"

After waiting for a response for a long thirty seconds I tried again. "Whoever's out there, will you let me out! I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic! Hello? Hello!"

I stopped and listened again as I heard shuffling around outside the box. The person had moved so I tried the top of the box again, still finding it tightly shut. I lied there listening to the sound of my breathing, and it was beginning to make me more aware of how cramped it was inside the little wooden box. The more I thought about it, the more my mind raced around the unpleasant thoughts that prevented me from being able to breathe normally. I knocked on the box again and yelled, "Please let me out!" Without waiting for any answer, I let my panic take over and began knocking frantically on the box and shouting for the person on the other side to let me out, hoping that at least I'd annoy them enough that they would open the box at least for a bit. Instead, the person standing outside kicked the side of the box where my head was, stunning me as my head hit the side and back of it painfully.

I still couldn't breathe, but I didn't yell or bang on the box anymore; just laid there and thought. Thought about Gene and Naru and what they were doing right now, thought about Lin and his calm demeanor—hoping to remain calm as well as him—and thought about my parents and how different, though not in a bad way, Mr. and Mrs. Davis were. _I would love to just be back at the Davis' mansion, drinking tea and talking to Gene…and trying to talk to Naru I guess. But I still can't tell if he likes me or not, but that's not exactly what I should be thinking about right now. I'm stuck in a box somewhere in a theme park where people are known to disappear and turn up dead…Gene, Naru, _I thought immeasurable concentration, _hurry and find me! _

**General POV**

Not even twenty feet away, Gene—already awakened thanks to his brother's prodding and poking—and Naru, both heading back towards base after discussing Gene's experience with Mai in the astral plane, turned around abruptly at the sound of a familiar voice, Mai's voice, whispering to them from straight through the ground it seemed like.

Gene caught his brother's eye, _Did you hear that?_

_ How could I not, _was his brother's sardonic reply.

_Well, where did it come from because I definitely heard that coming from the direction of the ground and it did _not_ sound like her normal voice; it wasn't spoken. She somehow got that message to us by thinking it, but she shouldn't be able to do that…_

_ Does it really matter right now? We really just need to find her and after we do, we can ask her about it all we want. Do you know exactly which way it was coming from and are you sure it was coming from underground?_

Gene stood there and thought about it for about a minute before slowly shaking his head. "I'm not completely positive it came from underground, but it definitely came from a different spot in the maze than where she disappeared from. I think if that's true, then it must have come from underground because there's no other way for somebody to sneak her around the maze right under our noses. What do you think?"

Naru nodded once, very slowly as he crossed his arms. "It seems to me that whatever it was that took her _has_ to be human after this. No spirit would take a human underground, and one wouldn't even have the means to. That being said, I agree with you on her being underground, but that still doesn't help us find her. We would still have to find the entrance which _should_ be where she disappeared, but it's not." He stood there silently for a couple minutes and continued, "Anyways, let's go tell Lin what we've found out. We'll probably need all the help we can get in discovering Mai's location."

The twins returned to find their colleagues in various sorts of disarray. Rachel and Alice were currently locked in a glaring contest, obviously they had been arguing…again. Lin was on the phone probably talking to the rest of their team members who had not yet arrived. Mr. Parker, who had apparently just arrived, was just standing at the far end of the room looking utterly confused. He turned to the door as it opened, his face lightening up at realizing who was arriving. He strode straight to the twins and asked them what was going on.

In reply, Noll told him, "Well, currently one of our members is missing, and we are doing _everything in our power_," he looked pointedly at Lin and the two girls, "to find her. We are also hoping that her discovery will lead to a possible answer to your problems with the park." _Let's not mention that the culprit may be human though._ Noll looked at Gene as he thought this and his brother nodded slightly in agreement. "Now, if you'll excuse us, our team has a few things to discuss."

In response to the coolness in Noll's voice, Mr. Parker flushed slightly and nodded. "Of course. Um, just inform me if you find anything…and I'll, uh, leave you to your work." With that, their client withdrew from the base, leaving the twins to explain what they realized.

**Naru's POV**

"Gene and I have reason to believe that Mai's disappearance was _not _caused by something supernatural," I stated as soon as Mr. Parker had left, and the group had focused their attention. "We also have reason to believe that Mai isn't exactly barren of some…_abilities_ due to the fact that Gene met her on the astral plane and conversed with her. She told him that she also had the suspicion that her kidnapper was human as well. And lastly, we are sure that she is somewhere underground—somewhere beneath the park; not necessarily beneath the maze but definitely close. The only problem is that we have no idea where the entrance is. Logically, it would be somewhere close to the spot she disappeared, but there is definitely nothing there."

I looked at Gene, wondering if he had anything to add, and when my brother shook his head in response, I looked at Lin. "So what is the news with our other team members?"

"They are a little over thirty miles away from the lodge. But upon hearing about our situation, they have agreed to come straight here to help with the search."

"Wait a second," Rachel interjected before anybody could continue, "what other members are coming? I thought we were it!"

In a cold retort, I answered her before Gene or Lin could reply. "Well, obviously we aren't enough because nobody has been able to locate Mai, and you and your sister have done absolutely nothing to contribute to the case except argue with each other. The people who are coming are of much more professional caliber than either of you, and hopefully, they'll have an idea of how we should proceed."

**General POV**

The longer Noll spoke, the redder the two girls blushed in furious embarrassment, and the wider Gene grinned at his when his thoughts returned to Mai, his face became solemn and thoughtful as he racked his mind for anything that would help them find her. He wanted to head back out to the maze and take another look around, but it was definitely too dark to search the entire thing on his own—one because it was dangerous and two because one flashlight only covered so much area.

His only choice, then, was to wait for their backup to arrive. The monk Japanese, Takigawa Houshou and the Australian Catholic priest, John Brown had contacted the twins' father's business on quite a few occasions to help out with the occasional hauntings. How Takigawa-san and Mr. Brown had come to be partners in such cases was something of a mystery to the twins since nobody had told them about the branch in Japan. In any case, now that the English SPR needed assistance on a case, the two had readily agreed to help out in any way possible. It would probably be only about fifteen minutes before the two would arrive at the park, and then the entire team could search for as long as it took for them to find poor Mai-chan.

**Mai's POV**

Somehow or other, I'd managed to fall asleep again as I stayed trapped in the cramped box. When I woke up, something just felt different. I peered up at the top of the dark box and lifted my hand to it. I pushed on it softly and felt it give way. That person had unlocked the box! But why? And where were they now? I sat up a bit further and carefully pushed the lid up, trying to make as little sound as possible. I lowered the top until it touched the ground and sat up the rest of the way. All around me there was darkness. _Go figure._ I waited a few minutes and looked around. My eyes had definitely been adjusted to the darkness for a while now.

All around me was dirt. Dirt and boxes. It looked like I was inside some underground tunnel, probably right beneath the park. I wondered again where my kidnapper had run off too and whether he would return to find me out of his crate. I also wanted to know what his—was it a man?—intentions had been: was he going to kill me? Or perhaps he was going to offer me back in return for a ransom. _Ha! Doubt it. I don't have that good of luck._ My guess was that he was going to let me rot inside the tunnel as a sort of torture, then he would take an axe to my dying body. _Wow, I sound extremely pessimistic. And I even managed to escape the box. Only questions I have are why was the box unlocked, where is the kidnapper, and how the hell do I get out of here?_

I noticed again that I was surrounded by boxes that all looked like the one I had been in. They were all locked…some were more rotted with age than others, and their locks had rusted almost to the point of falling off. A feeling of dread rose quickly in my stomach, threatening to become something of a scream as I realized what was probably in the box. I quickly pushed the urge down and walked over to the oldest looking box. As I passed other boxes, I caught the stench of something other than rotting wood. Something more along the lines of decaying flesh.

I knew exactly what was inside the box before I broke the rusted lock with a large rock I'd found on the tunnel floor. I gingerly lifted the lid of the crate, bracing myself for the sight. Even so, I dropped the lid and covered my mouth to smother a yelp as soon as I saw the bones of a tiny corpse that had probably been in the tunnel for at least a decade. It was so small, that I guess it was probably only a child. Realizing this caused me to actually tear up so that I had to turn away and shift my thoughts to escape and avoiding the murderer so I wouldn't end up a corpse in one of the several boxes covering the floor of the underground tomb. I replaced the lid on the crate, silently promising the corpse that I would not let it rot down here for another decade.

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I really hope this doesn't seem off or anything. It's been an extremely long time since I last updated this story. Reviews are always appreciated and I hope you enjoyed chapter six.


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